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About us

About the CU Immigration Forum:

Who Are We

The Champaign-Urbana Immigration Forum is a group of
immigrants, students, clergy, service providers, labor union representatives,
residents and community organizations concerned about the progress and plight
of immigrants in the Champaign County community (Central Illinois). Since December 2009, the C-U Immigration Forum meets regularly (on the second Tuesday of each month) to discuss immigration-related issues and events in our community and
works to:

celebrate
the diversity and culture that immigrants contribute to our community;

educate
the public about issues that affect local immigrant communities;

advocate
for the rights of immigrants and encourage their full participation in civic,
cultural, social and political life in our community;

promote
permanent and positive changes that will improve the quality of life for
immigrants in our community; and

organize
for policies that lead to just and humane treatment to all immigrants that are
part of our community.

What Are Our Concerns

Our
nation has a proud and long tradition of welcoming immigrants from around the
world as symbolized by the Statute of Liberty. Too often, however, bigotry and discrimination against new
immigrants has been a common response. The C-U Immigration Forum rejects such
attitudes and works to celebrate the diversity and contributions of all
immigrants in our community.

Around
11 million undocumented immigrants are living and working within U.S. borders
without a realistic path to citizenship. Our government’s focus on
enforcement-only policies has not substantially reduced that number, but has
led to the tearing apart of families, human rights abuses, racial profiling,
and even death.

A
related issue is that 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from
high school without “papers.” These are young people born outside of the United
States who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only
the U.S. as home and who, upon high school graduation, find the door to their
future slammed shut. Access to
post high-school education is for them difficult if not impossible. This is a waste to all concerned
– students, their families, the community at large. Recent policy changes under DACA are a start but the full incorporation of these young people is a neccessity.

What Are We Doing About It

In
response to the needs of immigrants, the CU Immigration Forum collaborates with local churches
as well as organizations such as the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant andRefugee Rights (ICIRR) to promote programs and policies that benefit immigrants
in our community as well as activities such as screening/discussion of
documentary films on immigration issues, worship services, legislative updates,
and direct assistance to immigrants through a hotline called La Linea.

In
solidarity with the U of I Registered Student Organization, La Colectiva,
Immigration Forum members have lobbied in support of the DREAM Act on a state
and national level to create a path to citizenship for students who graduate
from college or serve in the U.S. military. Efforts to educate and prepare young people to file under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, are under way since August 15, 2012 and will continue with renewals.

The
C-U Immigration Forum has worked to reverse the negative impacts of the
controversial federal deportation program called “Secure Communities” which was
promoted as a way to identify and deport dangerous criminals “who pose a threat
to public safety, such as aliens with prior convictions for major drug
offenses, murder, rape, robbery, and kidnapping.” However, according to the federal government’s own data the
vast majority of individuals detained under the program were non‐criminals. Here in Champaign County 70% of those
detained had no criminal record, but the impact on local families has been
devastating. Thereafter, reports and observations at the Champaign County Jail seem to indicate that only a few immigrants are turned over to ICE.

A related item is that many immigrants are forced to drive without licenses because these are not available to them. We have joined the statewide coalitions (Highway Safety, ICIRR) to create awareness of this safety problem; licenses are now available for all those that prove they can drive.

The
Forum has conducted a number of events to reach out to local immigrant
communities from sponsoring consulate visits to help local immigrants obtain
passports and other documents to organizing “Know Your Rights” workshops to
educate local immigrants about programs such as Secure Communities and their
rights under the law. The IF has also helped sponsor the visits by the governments of Mexico and Guatemala to issue documents for their citizens. In 2014, the group also began identifying Central American unaccompanied minors and helping coordinate to meet their legal and daily needs. In 2016, ICE announcements on new raids and political speeches prompted the Forum in doing a new series of KYR workshops.

Some Press Coverage and Local Media:

For press needs, please feel free to contact Ricardo Diaz at 217-979-0255 or at diazr@cuimmigrationforum.org

Similar National Groups and Organizations:

We also coordinate with WelcomingAmerica.org for our Welcoming Week and the Welcome! Awards held every year in September. Welcoming America provides the roadmap and support they need to become more inclusive toward immigrants and all residents.

BorderLinks is a bi-national, nonprofit educational
organization at the U.S./Mexico border that focuses on cross-border
relationship building opportunities, issues of immigration, community formation
and development, and social justice in the borderlands between Mexico, the
U.S., and beyond. On average,
nearly 1,000 individuals participate annually in BorderLinks learning
opportunities.

No More Deaths is an organization whose mission is to end
death and suffering on the U.S./Mexico border through civil initiative: the
conviction that people of conscience must work openly and in community to
uphold fundamental human rights. Our work embraces the Faith-Based Principles
for Immigration Reform.

Samaritans (formerly Samaritan Patrol) are people of faith
and conscience who are responding directly, practically and passionately to the
crisis at the US/ Mexico border.
We are a diverse group of volunteers that are united in our desire to
relieve suffering among our brothers and sisters and to honor human dignity. Prompted by the mounting
deaths among border crossers, we came together July 2002 to provide emergency
medical assistance, food and water
to people crossing the Sonoran Desert.

Coalición de Derechos Humanos (“The Human Rights Coalition”)
is a grassroots organization which promotes respect for human/civil rights and
fights the militarization of the Southern Border region, discrimination, and
human rights abuses by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials
affecting U.S. and non-U.S. citizens alike.